


Bad Dreams and Coloring

by MommyMaleficent



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Coloring, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Infantilism, Nightmares, Non-Sexual Age Play, caregiver Mulan, little Aurora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-09-30 17:47:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10168388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MommyMaleficent/pseuds/MommyMaleficent
Summary: Aurora’s never been easy to put to bed, and while Mulan understands why, she just can’t understand.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t abandoned SamF, I promise!
> 
> I just need something to get me back in the groove. I feel like once you see these characters in a certain way, it’s hard to unsee them, and sw is a bit of a palette cleanser for me cuz I don’t normally write about them.

It starts with a picture. One turns into two, then three, then five, and they are all consistent. After almost every nightmare comes a drawing of it the next day.

Aurora scribbles furiously across the page with red and orange and yellow. At the center is a girl with red-brown hair in a purple dress. She hugs her legs to her chest with a huge frown and big blue tears stream down her face. Her. Sometimes the position of the girl changes—she’s standing to the side, hand close to the fire and her eyes wide, other times she stands in the middle, hunched over as she covers her face, and other times still, all that is seen is her back. The hostile environment surrounding her, however, never does.

Surely these cannot be the only nightmares she has.

The princess colors and colors, mumbling to herself about this or that thing while Mulan peeks over her shoulder from her spot on the couch to see how far today’s picture is coming along. Aurora looks up at the TV screen when the volume noticably lowers, and turns to Mulan immediately after, sucking on her pink “Princess” pacifier, cocking her head slightly to one side.

Mulan smiles softly. “I’m here. I just wanted to see how far you’ve gotten.”

The corners of Aurora’s big blue eyes crinkle as she smiles in return and carefully picks up her drawing by a corner to hand over.

There is nothing here she hasn’t already seen, and Mulan shakes her head, still smiling so as not to arouse Aurora’s doubt, and promptly hands it back. “You know exactly what you’re doing. Good job.”

Aurora leans into Mulan’s knee and rubs her head against her leg like a cat while Mulan runs her warm hand through her hair. When she stops, Aurora twists her torso to face her and lifts her arms towards her caregiver. She grunts behind her pacifier, readying herself to whimper and whine should she be refused, and Mulan looks between her and her artwork before taking Aurora’s hands in hers.

“Are you done for today?” Her question is met with vigorous nodding. “Let’s put everything away first. Shall I place this one with the others?” She chuckles when her little one tilts her head in the opposite direction, eyes rolling to the ceiling in exaggerated thought. They both know what the answer is, or should be. Even if Aurora were to refuse, Mulan would do so anyway. Where else would they put them if not in the drawing folder? Only happy pictures go on the refrigerator—Aurora insists.

They share a cuddle when all is done, a comforting warmth settling their bodies while the reruns of an old sitcom tickles their ears. Mulan braces herself for the next hour as she pats Aurora’s bottom in a slow, steady beat. Her princess makes herself comfortable, resting her head in her lap, contently drinking from her pink sippy cup of warm milk. She stares up at Mulan with big blue eyes, and Mulan melts under her gaze, brushing her copper hair away from her forehead and pressing a kiss to her brow.

Maybe tonight, she’ll be okay. No nightmares.

When she puts Aurora to bed that night, the lack of fuss only strengthens her hope. There’s no crying or whining, no begging to stay up five more minutes, no demand for extra snuggles, or water, or old stories of which Mulan can never remember the endings. Aurora goes down quietly, clutching in her hands Mulan’s old red cape from days long passed. It’s been through countless battles, endured many trips to the washing machine, been hung out to bask in the heat of the sun, only to find its home in the arms of the sweet little Princess Aurora as her security blanket, her constant household companion. It provides her comfort when Mulan is unable, keeps her warm when Mulan cannot, and never fails to remind them of their good fortune. How lucky was Mulan to have survived war and still have the energy to find peace, and how lucky was Aurora to have found not only her True Love, but her little self.

The baby monitor is placed on the table next to Aurora’s side of the bed, where there are safety rails to keep her from falling, and a full-sized body pillow to keep her from waking to an empty bed. Mulan plugs in the night light after she tucks Aurora in.

She stays a full hour before slipping out of the room, leaving the door ajar. She goes into the kitchen where she’s left Aurora’s folder of drawings she’s made, and dates the most recent one before flipping through the pages and putting it away in the desk drawer of the living room. She makes herself a cup of tea, and sips it while reading the news on Facebook. Emma posts an article about police brutality, and Snow and Regina share baking articles while arguing passionately about the use of apples in the comments. Ruby tags everyone in “memes,” and Belle posts great walls of texts, analyses on the books she’s reading and their connections to her life and her thoughts and her community. All of this happens while Aurora sleeps on, hopefully blissfully, unaware.

Around 10:30, Aurora is screaming.

“MUMA! MUMA!”

Mulan flies upstairs, pushing the door wide open and turning on the lights at the same time. All she sees are hands outstretched, reaching for her. She swiftly removes the body pillow, and her side of the quilt, and lets her girl sob her heart out into her chest. Aurora fervently clings to her, heavy breaths mixing with wails and moans, and occasionally coughs. Mulan tenderly pats her back, and guides her slender legs over her own, encouraging her princess to turn towards her, and holds her close.

She does her best to soothe every tremor, quiet every sob, and cuddle every cling. She rocks her, humming an improvised song under her breath, while Aurora bunches the shoulder of her shirt, pops it in her mouth, and suckles. When the tears finally cease, and her breathing is calm, Mulan lifts Aurora’s chin up and looks into the tired eyes of a tear-streaked face. She pries the fabric out of Aurora’s mouth, and caresses her hot, pink cheek with a thumb.

She smiles. “Let’s color some more tomorrow, okay? I’m very proud of you for being brave tonight.”

Although her face crumples, and more tears are shed, Aurora tries to smile back. “Okie.”

The lights never go off that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Personally I feel these two are the best to try out this kind of relationship. I’m proud to be the first one to put them on here, but hopefully not the last. This won’t be the last from me though.


End file.
